Microsoft said it expects Windows 7 to include a new technology called Windows XP mode (XPM) that will enable the next-generation operating system to run just about any application compatible with Windows XP in a virtualized environment — all but eliminating the compatibility issues that plagued Vista’s initial release.
Specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7, XPM will provide users with the flexibility to run many older productivity applications on a Windows 7-based PC, wrote Scott Woodgate in an official Microsoft blog.
“All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode, which is a virtual Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC,” Woodgate said. “The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7.”
Virtual XP Environment
XPM is designed to take advantage of the virtualization technologies that Intel and AMD have been building into their latest processor chips. For this reason, Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC “are best experienced on a new Windows 7 PC,” Woodgate wrote.
XPM works much like other virtual PC products currently available, but with one important exception, noted bloggers who have been testing XPM for the past several weeks.
“Windows XP Mode (XPM) dramatically changes the compatibility story for Windows 7 and, we believe, has serious implications for Windows development going forward,” said Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott in comments posted at the Windows Supersite. “By removing the onus of legacy application compatibility from the OS, Microsoft can strip away deadwood technology from future versions of Windows at a speedier clip, because customers who need to run older applications can simply do so with XPM.”
Moreover, XPM does not require users to run the XPM as a separate Windows desktop, they said. “Instead, as you…